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Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

technicallychallenged.substack.com

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Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#281

Post by jug »

iamsanteri wrote: post #256
not_your_vase wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPads are great tablets - even the cheapest ones. You can't go wrong with any iPads from the last n-3 generations. But they are tablets. They do tablet-y things great. Other things not so much.

Yeah, I always thought it’s only good for architects with their drawings or for businesses offering product configurators and such to their customers in their physical spaces or museums, etc. But look at that, instead of carrying one more paper notebook in my bag I now have this extra thing in addition to my laptop and it’s pretty good!

This is a good point. I criticized it in another post here in typical Hacker News fashion but just to add some positivity, iPad Pro is great for precisely architects and engineers bringing CAD drawings etc because the guys pack a tablet with a large screen with them to the actual site and can intuitively work with and demo the project with their hands alone. I know this works because we have people at work doing precisely this and they wanted the big displays for ease of use and showing.

But be very cautious if you need to integrate multiple applications and maybe even those not on the iPad (like Visual Studio Code), having to restort to web interfaces or remote computing apps, terminals... Stuff exists for all of this but it's going to get progressively more painful from my experience, the more involved and "not in this single app" your workflow is.

If you stay like 95% of the time on the iPad and a very few apps in a very basic workflow (like bring a CAD drawing to the iPad before you head out), sure that's a good iPad Pro use, I think!

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#282

Post by sethd »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #204

Boggles the mind why people still fall for the iPad Pro as a serious work machine beyond writing meme. The fact that Final Cut launched on it recently and while its exporting you have to sit there leaving the app open you can't go do something else is the punchline of the decade for the lie that this is a serious machine. This is before we get into the comical evolution from "You just need the touchscreen" to "Actual…

I know professional photographers that use them for photo editing, but not as their main machine. It allows for a more casual way to work when that is desired.

It also works well for showing photos to clients. Clearly it’s valuable to at least some professionals.

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#283

Post by atourgates »

basisword wrote: post #246
whywhywhywhy wrote: post #204

Boggles the mind why people still fall for the iPad Pro as a serious work machine beyond writing meme. The fact that Final Cut launched on it recently and while its exporting you have to sit there leaving the app open you can't go do something else is the punchline of the decade for the lie that this is a serious machine. This is before we get into the comical evolution from "You just need the touchscreen" to "Actual…

>> Boggles the mind why people still fall for the iPad Pro as a serious work machine beyond writing meme. So it’s not good as a work machine…apart from most jobs. Most jobs are email and documents. If you’re on the move a lot then it’s a good device for those jobs. Jobs which require a lot of computing power, large screens, input devices other than a keyboard and touch screen, are definitely the minority.

I work in a “mostly email and documents” job, and have an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard case.

Every 6 months or so I try to use my iPad as a MacBook replacement for work for a day. It just, doesn’t work.

Every time I’ve come up against a limitation.

The iOS version of a tool is missing some critical functionality. Moving things between apps is a hassle. Multi-tasking is a hassle. Etc. Etc.

I’ll probably keep occasionally trying, and the iPad Pro is a great tablet. But it’s a hassle even for an “email and documents” worker.

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#284

Post by reitoei »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #204

Boggles the mind why people still fall for the iPad Pro as a serious work machine beyond writing meme. The fact that Final Cut launched on it recently and while its exporting you have to sit there leaving the app open you can't go do something else is the punchline of the decade for the lie that this is a serious machine. This is before we get into the comical evolution from "You just need the touchscreen" to "Actual…

The iPad (pro in particular) is an incredible platform for music production and lots of other "pro" tasks. People mostly use them in conjunction with other machines.

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#285

Post by wouldbecouldbe »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #204

Boggles the mind why people still fall for the iPad Pro as a serious work machine beyond writing meme. The fact that Final Cut launched on it recently and while its exporting you have to sit there leaving the app open you can't go do something else is the punchline of the decade for the lie that this is a serious machine. This is before we get into the comical evolution from "You just need the touchscreen" to "Actual…

They market it certainly as PRO, with a hefty pricetag included.

You seem to just acknowledge the author's point that Apple's marketing is false.

Yet you shame if him for not knowing it. Seems like this article is useful for people still thinking of this.

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#286

Post by iLoveOncall »

scarface_74 wrote: post #263
sublinear wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, just get any laptop really. There's nothing special about a Mac unless you need to do native development for Apple devices, and I'd suggest a Mac Mini for that.

Or you want a 14 hour battery life, doesn’t sound like a 747 when you open a few Chrome tabs. Not to mention the fact that a Mac laptop won’t fry your nuts when you put it on your lap.

Lol. My MacBook Pro loses battery even when plugged and is constantly at 100% fan speed no matter what it is doing (or not doing).

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#287

Post by scarface_74 »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #286
scarface_74 wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you want a 14 hour battery life, doesn’t sound like a 747 when you open a few Chrome tabs. Not to mention the fact that a Mac laptop won’t fry your nuts when you put it on your lap.

Lol. My MacBook Pro loses battery even when plugged and is constantly at 100% fan speed no matter what it is doing (or not doing).

Are you talking about an ARM Mac or x86 Mac?

Re: Buying an iPad Pro for coding was a mistake

#290

Post by melvyn2 »

scarface_74 wrote: post #263
sublinear wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, just get any laptop really. There's nothing special about a Mac unless you need to do native development for Apple devices, and I'd suggest a Mac Mini for that.

Or you want a 14 hour battery life, doesn’t sound like a 747 when you open a few Chrome tabs. Not to mention the fact that a Mac laptop won’t fry your nuts when you put it on your lap.

As surprising as you may find it, Apple doesn't have a monopoly on good hardware. The stereotype of any non-macbook being a toaster is practically a strawman at this point (while people are so quick to forget the atrocity of the i9 macbook).
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